COTM 3102:

3102: ROAD
& BRIDGE
CONSTRUCTION I
By: Wondwossen T.
Chair, infrastructure Design & Construction
,EIABC
 EARTH WORK QUANTITY & MASS HAUL
DIAGRAM

Out line

Earth works in Highway

Earth work quantity calculation

Area Calculation

Volume Calculation

Mass Haul diagram

 WHAT IS EARTH WORK ?

Earth work:

Is simply defined as the quantity of material to be
moved or put in place to convert the natural condition
and configuration with in the ROW of the road to the
section and grade of the plan/drawing.

Classification of Earth work operations

I. Clearing & grabbing
II. Excavation
I. Road way & drainage Excavation
II. Excavation for structure
III. Borrow Excavation

Clearing & Grabbing

It is the first operation to be undertaken

Definition: it is the removal of trees, stamps, roots,
down timbers, rotten woods, rubbish and other
objectionable materials.

Clearing : refers the removal of materials above the

existing ground surface and

Grabbing: refers to the removal of roots stamp and

similar objects to a normal depth below the surface.

Excavation

Is the process of loosening and removing earth or
rock from its position in cut and transporting it to fill
section or waste deposit.

According to ERA Technical specification, Excavation

classified in to the following based on the type of
material to be excavated as;

I. Common Excavation: which can be efficiently

removed or loaded by any of the following equipments
with out prior ripping. [ bull dozer with 145 kw engine
power; Tractor scraper with 245kw engine power.]
II. Intermediate Excavation: which can be
efficiently ripped by a bulldozer with a 220kw
engine power.

III. Rock Excavation: which can not be efficiently

ripped by bulldozer.

IV. Boulder Excavation : different classes of A, B

and C.

Free Haul: when material is excavated it will be
moved over a certain distance free of charge.
NB: Only the excavation cost is paid, not the
transportation cost of the material

Free Haul Distance (FHD): Distance over which
excavated material is moved free of charge (1.5 km
according to ERA).

Overhaul: is defined as the distance over which
the excavated material must be hauled less the
free haul distance.
NB: there is extra payment for transporting material in
addition to excavation cost.

Overhaul distance (OHD): Distance over which
excavated material is transported beyond the
free‐hall distance.

OHD = HD ‐ FHD

Economic Overhaul (EOH): Economic overhaul
is a distance beyond which it is not economic to
overhaul.

Limit of Economic Overhaul (LEH) ‐ is the
distance beyond which it is uneconomic to overhaul
plus the free haul distance.

LEH = EOH + FHD

Haul – is equal to the sum of the products of each volume
of material and the distance through which it is moved.

Waste – is the volume of material, which must be exported
from a section of the road due to a surplus or unsuitability.

Borrow – is that volume of material, which must be
imported in to section of the road due to a deficiency of
(suitable) material.

Determination of Economical Haul distance
Cost of 1m3 of excavated material from cut &move to fill = Cexc + Coh*Le

Cost of 1m3 of excavated material, waste, borrow &place to fill = Cexc + Cbor
Maximum economical length of over – hauling =

C exc + Coh*Le = Cexc + Cbor

EOH ≤ Cbor/ Coh where Le = EOH

Total Economical Haul distance , LEH = FHD + EOH

Earth Work Quantity
Estimation

Common types of Earth work cross section of

Highway
EARTHWORK ANALYSIS

Procedure

Take cross-sections (typically at 20m)

Plot natural ground level

Plot proposed grade profile

Calculate the areas of cut and fill

Calculate volume between cross-
sections
EARTH WORK ANALYSIS

Cross-sectional Area calculation

Different methods but the common are
Using simple geometrical relationships and


formulas

Using coordinate

Volume Calculation
1. Volume from Cross section 2. Volume from Spot

End area method level

Prismoidal
3. Volume from
Contour
CALCULATION OF CROSS‐SECTIONAL AREAS

Coordinate method:

With the coordinates of all
the corners of a
cross‐section
‐ known, the
area may be computed by
means of the coordinate
method.

The point of intersection
of the center of formation
with the centerline of the
road (CL) is used as the
origin.

Sign convention

The cut above the formation are written as plus (+)
and those below as minus (‐).

The distances to the right are written as plus (+) and
those to the left as minus (‐).
‐

Equation

Write the coordinates in order

Multiply crossed values as shown bellow

The products along the marked diagonals are all
positive and the product along the unmarked
diagonals are all negative.

The difference gives double area of the section

Area = ½[ (sum of all first run products) – (sum of

second run products) ]

Example :

Calculate the area of the following cross section
of a road
D
A

O h=3m
B C

Coordinates of b= 8m

A (-7,3)

B (-4,0)

C (4,0)

D (7,3)

O (0,0)
VOLUME CALCULATION
1. Average end area method A2

V= ½ [ A1 + A2] L A1
L

If we have more than two cross-sections having the

same distance L, then
V= ½ [A1 +An+ 2(A2 +A3+ A4+ …..) ] L
Example :
Calculate the volume of earth work having
A1=39.2m2 and A2= 36.5m2 , L= 20m
Volume = ½[39.2 + 36.5] * 20 = 757m3
2. Prismoidal Method

V = L/6 (A1 + 4M + A2)


Soil Volume Changes

Excavated in‐situ material used in embankments or
fills may swell or shrink.

It is important to determine the properties of a
material in order to evaluate how these properties
will affect the earthwork volume estimates

Hence, we can see that

Material volume increases during excavation

Decreases during compaction

The above property varies depend on

Soil type /shrinkage and swelling property

Height of fill

Source: Bannister (1997)

 TABULATION FOR EARTH WORK QUANTITY

Station Shrinka Cut Fill Cumulative

ge/ swell
factor volume/ mass
Area Volume Adj. Area Volume Adj. ordinate
Volume Volume
Shrinkage = 10%, L = 100 m
Station 1:
Cut Area = 6 m2

Fill Area = 29 m2

Cut
Fill
Ground line
Shrinkage = 10%
Station 2:
Cut Area = 29 m2
Fill Area = 5 m2

Cut
Fill
Ground line

Vcut = L (A1cut + A2cut)/2 = 100 (6 + 29)/2 = 1750 m3 *

Vfill = L (A1fill + A2fill) /2= 100 (29 + 5 )/2 = 1700 m3

Fill for shrinkage = 1700 * 0.1 = 170 m3

Total fill = 1700 m3 + 170 m3 = 18703

Total cut and fill between stations 1 and 2 = 1870 m3 fill
– 1750 m3 cut = 1203 borrow

*note: no allowance made for expansion
EXAMPLE
Calculate Mass Diagram Assuming Shrinkage = 25%

End area (m2) Volume

Cummulative
Station
Adjusted fill Volume /mass
Cut Fill Cut Fill Volume diag. ordinate
0+000 40 0

0+020 140 60

0+040 160 120

0+060 80 130
 End area (m2) Volume Cummulative
Station Volume
Adjusted fill /mass diag.
Cut Fill Cut Fill Volume ordinate
0+000 40 0 0
1800 600 750
0+020 140 60 1050
2800 1800 2250
0+040 140 120 1600
2200 2500 3125
0+060 80 130 675
 Mass Haul Diagram
1800

1600

1400
Cumm.. Earth work volume

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0+000 0+020 0+040 0+060

Stations

Mass‐‐Haul Diagrams

A Mass Haul Diagram is a continuous curve
representing the cumulative volume of earthwork
along the linear profile of a roadway or airfield

Mass diagrams are extremely useful in determining

the most economical distribution of material

Horizontal stationing is plotted along the x‐axis

Net earthwork values are plotted along the y‐axis

CHARACTERISTICS OF MASS HAUL
I. upward sloping curves (rising left to right)
indicate a cut
II. downward sloping curves (falling left to right)
occur in a fill section
III. peaks indicate a change from cut to fill and
IV. valleys occur when the earthwork changes from
fill to cut
V. Any horizontal line which joins points on the
curve where balance is achieved is called a
balance line. The FHD and/or the limit of
economic overhaul are established and plotted
on the mass haul diagram.
VI. A vertical break between any two balance lines
indicates an area where balance does not occur.
At these breaks a shortfall (borrow ) or excess
(waste ) material exists.

VIII. A positive value at the end of the curve

indicates that a waste operation will be the net
result

IX. A negative value at the end of the curve

indicates that borrow is required to complete
the fill
Between Stations
0 + 00 and 0 +
132, cut and fill
equal each
other, distance is
less than FHD of
200 m

Note: definitely NOT

to scale!
Between Stations
0 + 132 and 0 + 907, cut
and fill equal each
other, but distance is
greater than either FHD
of 200 m or

LEH of 725 m
Distance =
[0 + 907] – [0 + 132] =
775 m
Between Stations
0 + 179 and 0 + 379, cut
and fill equal each other,

distance = FHD of 200 m

Treated as free haul
Between Stations
0 + 142 and 0
+ 867, cut and fill
equal each
other, distance =
LEH of 725 m
Material between Stations 0 + 132 and 0 + 142 becomes waste
and material between stations 0 + 867 and 0 +907 becomes
borrow

Calculation of Mass‐‐haul diagrams

1. Compute the net earthwork values for each station, applying

the appropriate shrink factor
2. Net cuts have a positive value, net fills have a negative value
3. The value (earthwork quantity) at the first station (origin) = 0
4. Plot the value of each succeeding station which equals the
cumulative value to that point
5. Identify the resulting balanced sections, which are bounded by
points that intersect the x‐axis
‐
6. The scale length of a horizontal line connecting the centre of
gravity of the cut and fill sections is the average length of haul
within that balanced section
7. Determine earthwork volumes within each balanced section
8. Determine whether there is an overall balance,
waste or if borrow is required

Example:

The tabulated data given
below is the volume of cut
and fill for a given road
bed preparation.

Costs:

Excavation Ce = 3.00 Birr
/m3

Borrow Cb = 4.00 Birr /m3

Overhaul

Coh = 1.35 Birr /m3–
station

[1‐station = 100 m]

FHD = 300 m
a) Draw the mass curve and
the profile
b) determine the LEH
distance and indicate the
amount of borrow &
wastes